Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 75.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,154 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Assurant Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $209.64 on Tuesday. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.30. The stock has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. On average, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.